Butterfly Tour

Me removing tree frog from the shower

Last night, Victor had the night off. So Kayla and I slept in the hatchery to ward off the dogs, while Hernaldo took 3 of the volunteers on a patrol. Being in the hatchery isn't too bad since the internet reaches most days and Netflix is full of new movies and shows, but having 2 people sharing a hammock makes it very hard to sleep.  Every time one of us would just about fall asleep, the other would re-position causing the hammock to swing. The lack of sleep is made up by the beautiful view of crashing waves and brilliant stars.

Tree frog that make its
 home in the shower

He looks so happy in his new home.

Sunset in Costa de Oro

At 5 in the morning, we moved inside and got another hour and a half  of sleep before needing to get up and get ready to go on Mike's butterfly tour.

Mike telling us about the tour.

At 8:30 the Pretoma truck pulled into the drive and we all loaded in to take the 20 minute drive to Pueblo Nuevo where Butterfly Jungle is located. When we got there Mike greeted us with cold water and promise of fresh honey.

We all gathered in the newly refurbished rancho, where Mike gave us a little synopsis of how he came to Costa Rica to become the owner of his own butterfly farm. After his brief history, we walked out to the sunny gardens to see some fast flying butterflies and bees. He taught us about mimicry that is present in some butterfly species, which makes species only distinguishable by counting veins in their wings.

Mike's butterfly collection.

Once we had seen all sorts of sun loving insects , we moved down to the river walk to find shade loving species. It was interesting because the insects moved much differently and actually floated instead of flying quickly. We were lucky enough to see and owl eye butterfly and 2 butterflies mating.

Mating butterflies

Rancho

20 minutes later, we returned to the rancho to try honey and bee pollen. I always knew I liked honey, but this honey was something else. Don't worry mom and dad, I bought enough to bring home and if anyone else wants pure Costa Rican honey email me!

Fungi, I think.

More cool plants

Michelina, one of our volunteers,
enjoying a tree swing in the shade

A butterfly posed on Mikes shoulder.

Long nosed bats

Once we had all had samples of honey, we went to see some bats who had made home a beautiful tree with very exposed roots. The long- nosed bats didn't even seem phased by out paparazzi like photo taking.

We returned once again to the rancho for some more honey and with lots of questions about bees and honey. Mike knows a ton about bees and wasps and it was great to have all our questions answered. Since we all loved the honey so much, we each bought a jar or two before thanking Mike and loading back into the Pretoma truck.

Gift shop!

Kayla and I opted to pass the house and go straight to the town of Coyote for an amazing lunch of shrimp and steak at Loma Clara. Right as we were getting ready walk the 6 k back in the heat, Henner, the owner of Cristal Azul, pulls up and offered us a ride. So we hoped in his car and we were returned to our doorstep hot and ready to hop in the ocean for an afternoon swim.

Tie- Dye

hen Kayla came down to Costa Rica, she didn't just bring me a computer.  But two whole suitcases from my parents, which were loaded with tons of activities to do with the local kids, including tie- dye.

Kayla with Naduyi and Colita

We decided to make tie -dying the reward for a beach clean. So this morning at 8:30AM, I was awoken by the sounds of children outside my window. I raced out of bed to greet them give them trash bags. We started the pick up in front of the PRETOMA house and slip into 2 groups, one going north and one going south. I was excited to see other members of the community, like Tim and Wendy, join in as well and all the enthusiasm the kids had in helping.  After just one short hour, we had filled 5 jumbo trash bags and were all ready from a break from the heat.  So I told the kids to go home and cool off and come back after they were finished with lunch. This gave me enough time to get the dye ready and put the kids names on their shirts.

Kiara and Maria Fernanda with a bucket of trash

They promptly returned, excited to learn what tie- dye was. Ingrid, Kayla and I had the kids spread out and then I gave them a quick demonstration on how to make a swirl design or the basic crumple into a ball design.

Once all the kids had wrapped their shirts in rubber bands, we headed outside to start dying. My mom and I decided yellow and blue would be perfect because it would make green when it mixed and it would look like the ocean.  Two at a time the children dyed their shirts. Once they were all finished, I explained that they would have to wait until tomorrow afternoon to see their finished products. They seem excited and a little impatient, but I think it will be well worth the wait.

Tree frog hanging out on my window.

Colita with his sand turtle.

On anther note, Ingrid returned to the office, so Kayla and I are back to being just the two of us. We are still having a lot of hatching babies, which keeps us up a lot of the night and are busy exhuming the nests during the day. It is this time of the season I like the best, when we get to see babies and there are still new turtles nesting.

Photos Photos Photos

Just to get caught to the fun stuff, I am going to just post a whole lot of photos. So check them out, they include pictures of lots of sunsets, whale watching, a local soccer game, food and of course dogs!

You will have to wait until tomorrow's post for the pictures of the turtles!

Follow this link to get to the photo album!

Here's a little preview...

Hatchery 1/2 full on Sept 13th
Now we are filling in the holes.